Dembele’s pace had proven a problem for opponents in Qatar. Just like Mbappe, he was blessed with the ability to burn full-backs from a standing start. It was there, though, that similarities between the two team-mates ended.
Mbappe carried a constant goal threat and was unquestionably a big-game player. Dembele was painfully profligate and could never be counted upon to step up to the mark when it mattered most.
Indeed, the abiding memory of his time at Barcelona was the winger almost apologetically helping a stunned Messi back to his feet, after missing a chance to kill off Liverpool in the 2019 Champions League semi-finals that the exhausted Argentine had put on a plate for him.
However, even by Dembele’s incredibly low standards at the time, his performance in Lusail was astoundingly atrocious.
